While I agree with a lot of the comments about how we shouldn't trust hallucinations as being real encounters with God/gods/beings, I think there's tremendous i

While I agree with a lot of the comments about how we shouldn't trust hallucinations as being real encounters with God/gods/beings, I think there's tremendous intellectual and emotional value in these experiences. Mainly, once you experience things like this, you're forced to confront your own understanding of consciousness. For example, many people who take MDMA have a sudden realization that their concepts of themselves and others were based on unchallenged assumptions and paranoia. Someone who has lived their life in fear of intimidating people (jocks, bosses, "cool people", whatever), for example, might come to the realization that we're all far more alike than we are different, and that we're all just trying to make our way in the world. This realization can last years or even a lifetime. Someone who takes LSD or shrooms or Ayahuasca and experiences an encounter with what they perceive to be a spiritual being has to then confront what that meant. Even if it's a manifestation of their subconscious, they're tapping into something that was previously hidden from them. For my 2 cents, I think psychedelics are amazing -- once. After than first experience, you get diminishing returns. What's the benefit of encountering that "being" a second time? Unless "it" teaches you something new, you're just tripping and messing with your brain chemistry.